Virgin Voyager > Reviews > Virgin on fantastic

Author's product rating:   

Frequency of trains	Excellent
Reliability of trains	Always on time
Comfort of trains	Very comfortable
On-board facilities	Excellent

Advantages:	Comfort, space, reliability
Disadvantages:	Getting to the train station !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Now i'm not a train spotter, and i don't particularly like rail travel... but the new Virgin Voyager is something I really do enjoy.

I have to commute Oxford - Birmingham quite often, and the trains along this route are being replaced at a rate of 1 per week with the new Virgin Voyager Trains. This replacement plan is due to finish in a few months' time, with increased trains and much improved reliability. Each train is costing virgin £4million, but it is worth every penny.

The improvement is noticable straight away - as the train pulls into the station, each carriage has an electronic display in the window stating it's destination and stations on route. When you board the trains, each pair of seats has a display above showing whether the seat is reserved, and if so, the name of the passenger. This ensures that reservation cards are not removed by people wanting the seat, and your seat is always clearly marked.

Each seat has a fantastic seat pitch (i.e. space between the seat and the back of the seat in front), and has aircraft style individual reading lights above. In between the seats there is a headphone port for the on-train radio, which has listings printed in the fantastic mini-magazine found in the back of the seat, and features channels presented by some of the best radio dj's in each genre, such as Terry Wogan and Carl Cox. To the left of the seat is a 3-pin powerpoint suitable for laptops and mobile phone chargers, and there is plenty of space on the fold-down table for a laptop (I watched "Grosse Point Blanc" on a Voyager last night).

The on-train shop is well stocked with great tasting sandwiches and other snacks, as well as best-selling books and chart cd's. Headphones can be bought for £2 for the in-seat radios, which use a standard 3.5mm headphone jack (most airlines sell headphones which only fit their systems). The staff are always very friendly and eager to help, and know their job very well - I can only attribute this improvement in staff-customer relations to the fact that they work in such superior trains, and therefore don't have to deal with irate customers!

Apparently Branson himself travels standard class on his trains - I don't see how first class could be much better on the voyagers.